Vets schmooze in advance of Veteran's Day

Submitted photo

Veterans of the “Greatest Generation,” who served in the Korean War and WWII meet at the Shirley & Barton Weisman Delray Community Center in Delray Beach to talk about veterans’ issues before Veteran’s Day is celebrated next week.

Veterans of the “Greatest Generation,” who served in the Korean War and WWII meet at the Shirley & Barton Weisman Delray Community Center in Delray Beach to talk about veterans’ issues before Veteran’s Day is celebrated next week. (Submitted photo)

Listening to the guys shoot the breeze and rib each other as they sat around the table at the Shirley & Barton Weisman Delray Community Center in Delray Beach, you'd almost think they were a bunch of fraternity kids instead of aging Korean War and WWII veterans.

With the oldest of the group of nine former warriors coming in at age 96, the vets were gathered at the popular senior center a week before Veteran's Day to reminisce a bit and discuss matters pertaining to veterans in the present day.

"I'm losing my eyesight and hearing, but everything else is okay," yelled Tony Coco, 96, originally from Brooklyn, who served in the Air Force at Guadalcanal and the Philippines during World War II.

The other eight vets participating in the discussion included, Stanley Goler, 82, a U.S. Army vet originally from New Jersey; Robert Sussman, 80, also from New Jersey, U.S. Army Korean War; Milton Watzer, 86, originally from the Bronx, U.S. Army, who served in the Korean War; Jerry Gerson, 86, from Brooklyn, U.S. Army, Korean War; Jerry Guralsky, 85, a native of Brooklyn who served in the U.S. Army; Irving Rosenberg from New Jersey, age 94, U.S. Navy, during WW II; Norman Rosenblatt, 87, from Brooklyn, U.S. Army and Fred Goldstein, 80, who served in the U.S. Army in Germany.

Most of the vets, who all reside in Delray Beach, were kind to the Veterans Administration and its recent health care scandals.

"I really can't give an honest answer about that," Guralsky said, "because I got a hearing aid and physical from the V.A."

"It was very good in New Jersey," Sussman said.

"I think the care got a lot better since the complaints," noted Goldstein.

But Jerry Gerson took it a step further. "For many years the vets were not getting the care they needed," he said. "We do not as a county take care of our vets."

Watzer concurred. "I think we shouldn't have to have organizations like Wounded Warriors," he said. "The government should take care of its veterans' needs."

Gerson also talked about how when he visited South Korea much later, the people were grateful for what the U.S. soldiers did and thanked him for helping them get democracy.

Was the Korean War worth it, he was asked.

"No war is worth it!" many of them answered in unison, including Gerson.

The conversation turned to today armed forces and the wars being fought in the Middle East. Does today's army measure up to the armed forces of your day?

"Today, [soldiers] have more of everything – they are better equipped," Rosenblatt said. "They measure up. We haven't been attacked."

What about 9-11, he was asked.

"I was in New York City on 9-11," Gerson chimes in.

"Me, too – it was horrible," Goler noted.

Queried if they would agree that theirs was the "Greatest Generation," Goldstein answered "yes" for all of them.

"We were called to serve," Goler chimed in, "and we had to go."

Danielle Hartman, Jewish Family Service president and CEO noted, "We are proud that the Weisman Center is able to provide a setting where veterans feel welcome and safe. In addition to the socialization programs the Center offers, it provides a portal of entry to the network of services JFS offers. Should our veterans need to access any of our programs, they can do so in an environment that provides comfort and familiarity."